Roadtrip Nation

>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

>> Chrisel: This fall, I have the privilege of going on a road trip with two other participants.

>> Christian: We're going to be taking off on this road trip across the country.

>> Tamia: Just gonna be getting in this huge, green RV for about a month, interviewing people within different sectors of public service.

>> Chrisel: To speak to individuals who are in their field and doing the things that they love and getting that example.

People think that public servants are elected officials, the post office workers, but there's a lot more than you think.

>> Tamia: I wanna see the people who are at the ground level doing the work to bring change, and that's something I wanna do.

>> Christian: There's people that may not be viewed as a public servant, but have definitely shaped their particular areas.

>> Chrisel: Honestly, I'm most excited to understand people's why's, right?

Why do you do what you do and what keeps you going?

>> Christian: We're all asking ourselves the same question of what do we want?

Having a conversation with someone for a half an hour could change your life completely.

>> [MUSIC] >> Christian: This is day one, just outside Washington DC.

>> Tamia: It feels surreal to be on the first day of the trip.

You're getting it, thank you!

>> Chrisel: Wow!

>> Christian: Dibs on top bunk!

As things started to pile in, everybody realized how tight and snug we were all gonna be.

So, I mean I think we all got pretty close pretty fast just because of that.

>> Tamia: This is what you use in food.

>> Christian: In like all food?

>> Tamia: Yes, I don't go nowhere without it.

Had to bring a little bit of home with me.

My name is Tamia, I'm 22 years old.

I'm from Opelousas, Louisiana.

I'm just preparing the gumbo and getting a taste of it.

>> Speaker 4: Then as you get to the more Southern parts of the state, the foods are a little bit spicier.

>> Tamia: Having that Cajun and Creole culture is just kind of something that gives Opelousas a lively feel.

But it's kinda like a place where even though you know there's a lot of great things and culture, you can kind of get stuck.

And I think for me, that's one of my greatest fears, just waking up and 40, 50 years old and I'm still here.

Going into public service I do feel something that I've discovered along the way for me.

When I was around the age of five, my mom had these magazines, I think it was Jet or something.

So turning the page and seeing Emmett Till's body in that casket and just, I didn't want to believe it at first.

Like, how could this be a real person?

And just asking my mom about that, and my question, even after she explained it to me was why?

There was a point of seeing how similar Emmett Till and Tamir Rice look, and just knowing that they both met kind of similar ends was like yes, it is a full circle moment.

Going outside and seeing the state, the interactions of police with Black people.

Roads aren't good, how funding is, redlining.

It's so many other things that are ingrained and systematic that I feel like marching and protests, those are helpful, but unless we change those laws, it's just gonna be a repeated cycle.

So I think that was my calling for me, like political science with the concentration in pre-law and a minor in criminal justice.

So that I'm well informed of the laws and everything going on, so I can make a change within that.

College is gonna end, it's been such a big part of my life.

So as far as seeing myself, what I see myself doing, there's no clear picture for me.

I could be a lobbyist, I could go to law school, it's just so many things.

I feel like I won't truly know until I'm in it.

The road trip will be happening while I'm still in college.

So I'm gonna be doing that work while we're on the road, but personal development was always at the top of the list of something that I wanna get out of this.

I wanna get those different mindsets, I wanna just be different in every way possible in a positive way.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: Yeah, this fits, it's probably a little comfy.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chrisel: Chrisel Martinez, actually Chrisel Martinez.

I'm 27 years young and I'm from Harlem, New York.

I grew up on 125th street, so everything that went through I would feel it, see it.

But I feel like I had such a joyful childhood, and I think that part of it was the not knowing really what were the circumstances around me.

It was more of just like we were together and that was enough.

My mom didn't graduate until 2012, and that was her kinda working and then going to school on the free time that she had.

I think that she had to have that level of intensity raising four kids by herself.

>> Speaker 5: [SPANISH] >> Chrisel: The three musketeers!

>> Speaker 5: [SPANISH] >> Chrisel: Me and Christy, my older sister.

And it wasn't a question, like yeah, I'm going to college.

I attended university, I studied economics at the University of Albany, and I had a pseudo-degree in leadership development.

Honestly, that's what I spent most of my energy in.

And now currently, a lot of my training or my work is in community organizing, racial equity, and I do a lot of creative expression, creative arts work.

The thoughts on my future excite me while they also scare me, and knowing that it's right in front of you and still being like, wooh, I don't know if I'm enough for this.

Is this okay?

Is this?

And that apologetic nature that comes out when you still don't believe that you're worthy of something.

And then they say feel the fear and do it anyways, right?

And so I don't know what it looked like, I don't know where I'm going.

Road trip is next, right?

That's the next venture I get to be a part of.

And I think for me as someone who was raised very family-centered, the road trip is allowing me to break away and individuate and just being open to possibilities.

>> [MUSIC] >> Christian: Galena, Illinois, is about a population of 3,000 people.

Because it's a small town it's a pretty tight-knit community.

Pretty much all of our medical services like fire and EMS-wise are volunteer based.

It's just people in the community kind of recognize that there's a need for this.

When I was 18, I became an official member.

We see strokes, heart attacks, pretty much anything you can think of, we kind of get called for.

It's pretty great feeling to go to bed at night thinking that you helped someone that day.

I originally went to Cornell College, I ended up transferring to the University of Wisconsin Platteville.

I was thinking I wanted to be like a high school teacher, but then I ended up taking a geography course.

A lot of people think geography is simply like maps, and though it's kind of included, there's a lot of the environment and conservation.

So, I mean through that I had opportunities where I was in the woods like coring oak trees, and like aging them.

And I picked up a Bachelor of Arts, Social Science with an emphasis in History, and then a Bachelor of Science in Geography.

It's tough after graduating.

And even though I've applied for a lot of different positions, ranging from working in the museum to conservation work and environmental work, some of those things just haven't panned out.

Everybody that I'm friends with, my family, anybody in the community kind of knows that like I've done landscaping since I was in high school.

And coming back to do more landscaping after finishing college kind of feels like I'm letting them down.

I used to do the landscaping up at this bed and breakfast up here.

I did the stuff here too.

My generation has been raised with that mindset that if you go to college, you'll kind of be set.

But that's not the way that the world has turned out, it's changed.

I think this road trip will kind of get myself refocused on my priorities and the path that I wanna take.

As much as I would love to be able to stay here, I don't see there being opportunities in terms of job outlook.

But at the same time, it's kind of hard when you're involved, because when you leave, I don't wanna disappoint anybody.

Where I want my life and career to go is kind of a mirage right now.

I know I'm getting kind of lead to something.

But it's not quite clear what that's gonna be.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chrisel: We are starting off our interviews.

>> Tamia: I'm definitely nervous.

I don't really interview people, but I'm excited.

>> Christian: Brenda Mallory, she's had a long career in public service, and specifically in the environment with the EPA.

And now she's actually advising the Biden administration.

>> Tamia: Chair Mallory is the one I'm most excited about.

That's gonna be big for me, like you're advising the President.

>> Brenda: My name is Brenda Mallory.

I'm the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality here at the White House.

And I've been in this position since April of this year.

>> Tamia: Chair Mallory, I read somewhere that you found peace outside in nature and that kind of started for you at a boarding school in Connecticut.

Is it a thing where you just go back into nature to find that piece again when you're doing your work?

>> Brenda: Yeah, no, I mean, I would say every weekend I try to find some opportunity to just be outside.

The sense of refuge and being in a place that is that quiet, and that calm, and listening to the birds, that just is something that I always took some pleasure in.

And in some ways my ending up in a profession where that is sort of critical and central to what I do, this just kind of just happened.

[LAUGH] >> [MUSIC] >> Chrisel: I guess for you it was, like, a coincidence that it just ended up that way, but do you recall any steps or a defining moment?

>> Brenda: I got a job in a law firm in 1985 when I moved to DC.

That was an environmental firm.

And, I think I've always operated where my goal, on whatever I was doing, was to just do it really well.

I worked hard, I really threw myself into whatever the substance was of the work that I was doing.

And I felt a connection to the work and what we were trying to do.

Most of the work I did in private practice ended up being for cities who were trying to do economic development projects and comply with environmental laws.

And so, that connection to the public aspect and trying to serve communities was present both on the conservation side, on the environmental justice side.

Just thinking about how we need to battle climate change in general.

>> Tamia: Absolutely, now I know you mentioned environmental justice, I know what social justice looks like for me, that's my interest.

But, what does environmental justice look like in a broad view, and personally for you?

>> Brenda: Yeah, I mean, I think in some ways environmental justice is totally interlinked with every other kind of justice you're talking about.

So, something that we know is that there's more pollution in communities of color and low income communities.

That pollution we think actually explains why COVID was so devastating in some of those communities.

And that is related to necessary steps for us to address climate change, right?

And so, that's what we're talking about, is how the historic and chronic discrimination and racism in the country has led to circumstances that also mean that on an environmental level, these same people are suffering the most.

And so, the next step to coming into the federal government just was a logical path.

>> Chrisel: I'm almost wondering how, within the work that you're doing, even the policies and the decisions you're making, to keep community informed in some way, shape, or form?

>> Brenda: Yeah, I mean, in some ways that is really an awesome aspect of the work that I'm doing now, because one of the key features of the president's agenda is really focused on environmental justice.

And so, I spend a lot of time with people in communities right now, right?

>> Christian: So, coming from a rural area, there's almost a disconnect that it's uncomfortable to talk about certain topics.

And one of those topics happens to be climate change.

So, how do you take something that's at the federal level, and apply it to a state or small town with everybody being accepting of those ideas?

>> Brenda: Yeah, one of the things I feel like we've definitely learned as a movement is the importance of the sort of place-based nature of everything.

And so, what becomes critical is, not for me bureaucrat in Washington thinking that I'm gonna be the best spokesperson to try to inform people.

But that I need to make the connection with the people who are in that community, who understand that community, who understand the culture of that community.

And, those are the best spokespeople.

And I think people may not like the word climate change, but you can talk to them about flooding, and the fact that the flooding in their community has changed dramatically in the last five, ten years, you name it.

And so, I learned this for sure just how important it is to have your spokespeople be credible within the communities in which they are living.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: And that just hit home for me so much.

And I said, yeah, she's an inspiration just like what she's doing, and how she speaks upon issues too.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: Imagine being able to march alongside of him, to have that feeling.

What a time to be alive.

>> Chrisel: Yeah, that's true.

>> Tamia: Even my grandmother, who grew up in segregation.

>> Chrisel: Hasn't seen this?

>> Tamia: No, but we celebrated Juneteenth with her.

It was so monumental for me.

Cuz when you're studying law and stuff, you see all of these places in the history books and stuff.

But to actually be there was surreal for me in a way.

It's like so many tie-ins to why I wanted to get into this anyway.

So that's what I'm here for, to experience things like that.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chrisel: As we ventured out of D.C.

I was in a state of really just like stepping out of a city structure and the city life and just really falling in love with the mountains.

>> Tamia: I'm very excited, this is nothing like Louisiana, the roads are evenly paved.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: Christian, shout out to him, cuz he drove us.

It was very tight roads.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: It was my first time hiking, so I was very excited.

Definitely a little in over my head.

I mean everybody else had these well equipped shoes.

I'm like, I'll just go in my Vans, it'll be fine.

>> [MUSIC] >> Tamia: Ooh, look at the water.

This reminds me of A River Runs Through It.

It's not something I usually do, just having a break, even before, I'd be like, I should be doing something.

So even getting the moment where I was like just sitting and being in it was great for me.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chrisel: Tori Cooper is the Director of Community Engagement at the Transgender Justice Initiative for the Human Rights Campaign.

>> Tori: You are a beautiful group of folks, I have to say that to start off.

My name is Tori Cooper, my pronouns are she and her.

By day I'm Director of Community Engagement.

And I coined the title a few years ago, health and equity consultant, for the work that I do everywhere.

>> Chrisel: I wanna open up the conversation a bit.

One of the interviews that I've been listening to, you talked about in the moment where you were coming out, how the world, especially for the trans community, there wasn't as much education about it.

But it was also at a point when the HIV and AIDS pandemic was at its all-time high.

And so, how did you find your voice amidst all this general confusion?

How'd you find your way?

>> Tori: Wow, so we start off with the rough question.

>> Christian: [LAUGH] >> [MUSIC] >> Tori: So my gender identity I've always known I wasn't like the other little girls, but I also wasn't like the other little boys.

And the first weekend that I had when I was away from college, I got my ears pierced, and for me that was radical, but it was an opportunity for me to experiment.

It was also 1988 and HIV was really taking over.

So many of the folks who had come out the first time with were dead or dying because of HIV.

And so it was very personal for me.

There's nothing that says that I should have made it.

I'm Black, I'm overweight, I live in the south, I'm transgender.

And based on paper alone, I shouldn't have made it, but I am, and the fact that I am succeeding.

It is selfish of me not to use my privilege to help others as well.

And so all of that I brought into advocacy because access and opportunities are two of the things that keep us from success.

And so if myself and others are able to provide greater opportunities that's more access.

And also knowing that these systems, these oppressive systems that we navigate that there are ways to get around them, and we can dismantle those systems.

>> Tamia: Absolutely, and just for me, you talk about advocating for not only Black people but trans people as well.

So I was just wondering how do you feel about the media coverage when it comes to both groups?

>> Tori: The media can play a huge part in eradicating stigma and reducing hate.

I don't think any of us as human beings have the ability to make anybody change their minds.

But what I do think is that it is all of our responsibility, especially the media, to provide as much education and opportunity for change so that people can make an educated decision.

There are places in the country where there are large groups of trans people.

And there are places in the country where they're not such large groups of trans people.

But it's important to understand that as a community of people, learning more about us humanizes us.

And if you see us on television, if you know more about our stories and our history, cuz we've always been around, just didn't use the word trans, then you don't have to think about how to treat people.

You just treat them correctly.

>> Christian: Right and I think that's kind of what, like you mentioned it earlier, where it's, you don't change someone's opinion.

But you give them the space to try to like, figure it out on their own.

>> Tori: I'll give you all the tools to help you to make a good decision.

>> Chrisel: So I guess the question, now that I'm leading, even going back to the Black trans community, have you experienced, or do you feel like there's been progression?

>> Tori: So certainly there's been a lot of progression, otherwise I probably wouldn't be here with you all today, you wouldn't have invited me.

But that doesn't mean that things are good.

It just means they've progressed.

We have to deal with micro aggressions all the time and we call them micro aggressions but some of them really hurt.

I don't see color.

So white people think, let me make it clear, I'm gonna talk into the camera.

White people think that's a nice thing to say, it is not, it is not because we should see color.

We're all different colors, we should see color.

We shouldn't treat people differently because of their color.

>> Tamia: We actually spoke on that because it's almost like an erasure because I am a Black woman.

So if you're not seeing me as Black, you're not seeing a whole part of me.

>> Tori: You're probably skipping over more of me than you are actually including.

And that's wrong, I want you to see me.

>> Chrisel: I wanted to create a space because I'm also, like, just honored to be in your presence.

And really just thinking about when you say that, in other worlds if there was no progression, I wouldn't be here, right?

And for us this is such an educational moment.

How can we be the best allies in some way, shape, or form?

>> Tori: It is important for those of us who hold some levels of power and privilege in society to use that to elevate the voices of others.

I read somewhere where folks were talking about civil rights movement, and how there's so many different parts to it.

And folks who will never receive credit because their contribution was frying chicken in the back.

And so when it comes to liberation and it comes to fighting for what's right, I'm a chubby lady.

I am pleasantly plump, all that other good stuff.

So I'm probably not gonna march down Peachtree Street.

There's some folks who are great at doing that.

But there are some folks who're better at creating the signs that the protests are gonna carry.

But then there's some people whose job is to buy the ink that goes on the sign.

And so whatever it is that you do, if you're a protester or if you're a person who buys the ink, whatever your role is, just do it, cuz we all have a part to play.

There will be places that you'll be invited to because of your masculine privilege that we won't.

Do something.

That's it, do something, complacency is not allowed.

>> Tamia: Wow, it's like how do you put that interview in words almost?

It was emotional, it was informative.

It was everything you would want from an interview and then like so much more.

>> Chrisel: I just felt like a higher master came down to our level to really speak some wisdom, some truth, in a way that we all needed to hear it.

>> Christian: It really helped me be aware of things to look out for just to be an advocate.

>> Tamia: Finding your spot within the movement and that's definitely something that I'm trying to do.

>> Christian: We're all asking ourselves the same question right now.

It's like what do we want?

And I'm kind of at a point where I'm not sure.

And I think it's also kind of crazy to think that by the end of this trip, I might have a sense of direction.

I think it all just kind of started to hit us.

We're actually like doing this.

>> Tamia: It is very surreal but I think the more we do it, the more I'm like, wow, I'm really in this.

It's like this is really happening, like a pinch myself moment.

>>Chrisel: It's so powerful to see people doing things, and they're amazing and they enjoy it.

And they're happy.

>>Speaker 6: The reason I was doing this was to be able to help those who wouldn't be able to get the help otherwise.

I can't imagine anything else that I would want to do.

>>Christian: I'm pretty pumped for like Colorado >>Tamia: <laugh> I'm a lumber Jack.

Now, >>Chrisel: Were you exposed to natural building ever before?

>>Speaker 7: I did not know.

That was a thing >>Christian: I've realized that there's so much more out there.

Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com